Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an object information acquiring apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
An apparatus for acquiring object information is known in which an ultrasound beam is transmitted toward an object, a reflected wave from inside the object is received, and the received signal is converted into an image. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-028366 (Patent Literature 1) discloses a method for generating a three-dimensional ultrasound echo image of a wide region by mechanically scanning a probe in which elements transmitting and receiving ultrasound waves are arranged one-dimensionally. In the apparatus used in this method, a three-dimensional image can be configured by mechanically scanning the probe in a direction crossing the electronic scanning direction, while acquiring tomographic images by electronic scanning of the ultrasound transmitted/received beam. Such a method makes it possible to perform imaging of a three-dimensional region within a wide range of the object in an easy manner and, therefore, is suitable when a wide-range imaging region is required, such as in diagnostic breast imaging.
Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2009-028366